Newton's theory of Gravitation (1600s)
In 1687, English physicist Isaac Newton published his law of universal gravitation in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, commonly known as the Principia (Newton, 1848). Newton's law of universal gravitation states that the gravitational force one object exerts upon another is proportional to their mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Newton did not explain how gravitational forces travel from one object to another, he suggested that they could be carried by the aether, but otherwise relied on the concept of instantaneous action at a distance.
There is evidence that Newton was motivated to universalise his theory because of his religious beliefs (Snobelen, pp.169-208). In the 1600s, members of the Royal Society typically believed that science investigated the same truth as the bible and that knowledge came in two forms; revealed truth, which comes from studying scripture, and natural theology, which seeks to learn about God by studying His creation. The conclusions of natural theology were only accepted if they agreed with revealed truth. Newton valued natural theology because he believed studying the universe could lead him closer to God.
In the second edition of the Principia, Newton stated that nature reveals a creator. This is evident firstly from the fact that the universe formed at all. Secondly, from the fact that the masses which did form are placed so that they do not fall together under their own mutual gravitation and thirdly, Newton found evidence of design in the specifics of our Solar System, such as the fact that the orbits of the planets are all in the same direction and plane. Newton argued that the eccentric orbits of comets alone reveal the existence of a creator. Newton described God as being "an intelligent and powerful Being" who is "skilled in mechanics and geometry" (Newton, 1999, pp.7-8).
Newton did not accept religion blindly, however, and made a number of attempts to reinterpret scripture so that it does not contradict science. Newton was critical of the idea of divine providence, he accepted that God was unrestricted by rational necessity in the act of creation, when He created the laws of nature, but did not like the idea of God interfering with these laws afterwards. Newton was particularly sceptical about provident acts such as miracles. He did not question them in his theological publications, however he did apply philosophical arguments to justify the seven days of creation (Newton, 1855, pp.453) and denied the existence of ghosts and spirits, as well as the Devil, eternal damnation, the Holy Trinity (Newton, 1855, pp.349-350) and the divinity of Christ (Snobelen, pp.191). In private correspondence, Newton expressed his belief in the Hebrew God of the Old Testament (Snobelen, pp.191). He considered himself to be Arian, believing that scripture had been wrongly interpreted at the first Council of Nicaea, in 325, when the Trinity first became an important part of Christen theology (Snobelen, pp.191). Newton's belief that the Holy Trinity are not three persons remained illegal throughout his lifetime.
There is evidence that Newton's heretical beliefs influenced him to both universalise his law of universal gravitation and argue that space and time are absolute. The idea that the same laws could apply to the heavens and Earth contradicted the teachings of Aristotle which had been accepted by the Church, but Newton was influenced by the belief in a singular God who operates in all realms of space. Newton argued that because a singular God "exists always and everywhere...the whole is of the same nature throughout" (Newton, 1999, pp.529).
Newton went on to argue that this conception of God requires that space and time are absolute, they provide a background in which things take place and would continue to exist even if the universe was devoid of all physical matter (Newton, 1999, pp.529). Newton stated that "the true God is...eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient - that is, he lasts from eternity to eternity, and he is present from infinity to infinity...He is not eternity or infinity, but eternal and infinite; he is not duration or space, but he continues to exist and is present. He continues to exist for ever, and is present everywhere; and by existing always and everywhere, he constitutes time and space. Since every smallest part of space always exists, and every indivisible moment of time exists everywhere, it is certain that the creator and lord of all things will not be never or nowhere. He is omnipresent, not merely by virtue of his power, but by virtue of his substance, since power cannot subsist without substance" (Newton, 1999, pp.529).
Newton argued that there is no time or space where God does not exist, his eternal nature implies absolute time and his infinite duration corresponds to absolute space. The belief that space and time are absolute is known as spacetime substantivalism because it implies that space is composed of some kind of pseudo-substance like Aristotle's aether. French philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz accepted that the laws of physics could be universalised, but objected to Newton's concept of absolute space (Earman and Norton, pp.515-525). Firstly, he argued that Galileo had shown there is no such thing as absolute velocity and so there cannot be any such thing as absolute space, from which it is derived. Secondly, Leibniz objected to Newton's description of absolute space as a kind of physical entity because it has no causal powers or independent existence. Leibniz argued that space is purely a mental entity. The view that space only exists when physical objects are present is known as relationism. Newton countered these remarks by arguing that although there is no absolute velocity, there is absolute acceleration and absolute space can be derived from this (Laymon, pp.399-413).
Newton's infinite, eternal universe proposed problems for astronomers as well as philosophers. In 1720, English astronomer Edmund Halley argued that if the universe is eternal, and the stars are infinitely old, then the sky should be as bright as the surface of the Sun in all directions. This is because the starlight from an infinite amount of stars would have reached us by now, filling every part of the sky. This view was popularised by German astronomer Heinrich Olbers in 1823 and is known as Olbers' paradox.
References
Earman, J. and Norton, J., 1987, 'What Price Spacetime Substantivalism? The Hole Story', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Vol.38
Laymon, R., 1978, 'Newton's Bucket Experiment', Journal of the History of Philosophy, Vol.16
Newton, I., 1855, 'Newton to Burnet, written early 1681', Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, Brewster, D. (ed.), Vol.2, Edinburgh
Newton, I., 1999, 'General Scholium', The Mathematical Principles on Natural Philosophy, MacDonald Ross, G., (trans.)
Snobelen, S. 2001, 'God of gods and Lord of lords: The theology of Isaac Newton's General Scholium to the Principia', Osiris, Vol.16
The Star Garden
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